Changes
by aronimac
Summary: Two years after the Argo II set sail, attacks on the Greek and Roman camps drag the demigods into a secret war across the seas. Hazel and Nico set out to find out about who they are fighting against. They get more than they ask for, to say the least: Includes "Kane Chronicles" but will still be understandable for those who have not read it. All criticism is welcome. First Fanfic.
1. Chapter 1

**Review begging section (Every single review begging phrase that has ever existed):****_ If you're tired of this sort of thing, please skip_****. Constructive Criticism is any fanfiction author's best friend. Suggestions, please. Please give me reviews. Pls give me reviews. Plz give me reviews. R&R. I won't update if you don't review. REVIEW. ETC...**

**Disclaimer: Aronimac is the author of this ****fan****fic. Aronimac is obviously not J.K. Rowling or Rick Riordan. Therefore, Aronimac owns nothing. Simple. **

Hazel's spatha flashed through the air where Piper had been moments ago. She tilted her head to the side and saw Piper spit out a pebble, getting off the ground without dusting herself off. Piper charged toward her, blade in hand, the front of her jeans and snowboarding jacket covered in dirt. For the next five minutes, the sound of metal on metal and feet scratching the ground consumed the nearly empty arena. There was no talking, no laughing demigods, nobody else. Hazel was grateful they were alone; it allowed them more ground to spar on. And even if she had wanted more people to be there, being a child of Pluto made socialization difficult, to say the least. She thought that, having proven her worth in the second Giant War that she would be more welcome at Camp Jupiter, but many people felt frightened by her.

Hearing stories about how she had used her "curse" to her advantage to help fight Gaea's forces, they were concerned that they would be gutted by a gold bar or a crystal spike if they offended her. Even her fellow legionaries in the Fifth Cohort seemed more distant. She could understand why people wouldn't want to be around her. But with the rate of the attacks on the camps increasing every week, she hoped that they could start to understand that she wasn't that person. She wasn't someone who would go off, randomly injuring people she didn't like. It was imperative that they did, because now more than ever, all of the people of New Rome needed to work together, and for this, they would need at least a shallow understanding of each other.

Hazel was sweating enough to fill five buckets, and Piper's movements were slowing down from light speed to a cheetah's running pace, when Hazel spotted it. Shadows were gathering on one side of the arena. Piper's Celestial Bronze sword grazed Hazel's ear when she dropped her sword.

"Really, Hazel? At least give me a little warning when you decide to quit because you think I can't take this anymore. I know that I'm a pretty boring opponent, but give me a little more credit than that. I'll give up on my own when I'm too tired to fight anymore."

"Piper, please stop fishing for compliments. I've told you that you've made so much progress since we started training together on the Argo II. It's not that I'm bored. It's Nico."

"What?" Piper lowered her sword. Practice was over. Something big was going on. "Please say that it wasn't another attack."

Nico frowned. "It was." "What happened this time? Are there any fatalities?"

"Fortunately, no. Reyna, Frank, and one of the centurion from one of the other cohorts- I don't know him very well- were the only ones the attackers were going after." Hazel closed her eyes, trying to stay calm.

"Reyna and Frank are hurt? What happened exactly? Is it really bad?" Forget calm. Hazel was panicking. She felt like she was living on the Argo II again, worrying about what was going to happen to Nico, with most of her crewmates unwilling to do anything about it.

"Reyna was able to tell me some stuff about the attack- it was very unclear because the attackers cursed her with a magical flu, and she kept on coughing and wheezing as she was recounting what happened to me. These robed people, they just appeared in the Senate House, said some things in Latin, and shot jets of light out of these sticks they were wielding. Reyna got the coughing problem, and Frank got- you don't even want to know. For some reason unknown, they were the only ones targeted. You do realize how bad this is, don't you? Three of our leaders down, including one of the praetors…"

Piper nodded slowly, a grim look on her face. "Nico, I get that you're concerned about me, but please tell us, what happened to Frank- I think that after we've been through all that together, we really deserve to know."

Nico was silent for a moment. "We… don't really know. He isn't talking, he didn't seem to hear me when I asked him what was wrong, and he's not reacting to touch either. He's just staring into space. But he's not dead. I would've been able to sense it if he died."

Hazel bit down on her lip hard and clenched her hands into tight fists. She didn't need an emotional breakdown now, when the camps were being attacked and a possible war was on the horizon against an opponent they knew nothing about. "Alright," she managed, "so what do we do now?"

Nico's expression somehow turned even darker than before. "We should try to find out more about them first. I hate to say this, but let them attack. We can gather more information about them every time they attack, learn their strengths and weaknesses, and then we'll attack them. As of now, nothing we do seems to affect them. But with more knowledge about them, that can change. It makes sense."

Hazel thought about it. She opened her mouth to argue, but stopped before she could start. Hazel understood sacrifice. She understood that certain things needed to be done so that problems could to be solved, and that they weren't always pleasant. That was why she and Frank had helped Leo with his plan to defeat Gaea. So she found herself agreeing with him.

"Or maybe you could go see Rachel," Piper suggested.

Hazel froze and turned towards her. "Thanks, Piper, maybe I will." For some reason, the idea of getting another vague prophecy and going on a quest that would possibly lead to her own death seemed better than following through with Nico's plan, using people as tools, subjecting them to the same things that Frank and Reyna were living through, just to get information on the enemy, even though his idea had a higher chance of working out. She felt relieved, as if she was running through an extreme obstacle course, like the new one at Camp Half-Blood, and she had just managed to get through the poison spike section, one of the trickiest parts of the course because the tiny threats, these thin poisoned needles that flew out of the wall, were so difficult to see. Hazel unclenched her hand, and even though she still knew that Frank was in a coma-like state and Reyna was coughing up a storm somewhere in the infirmary, even though she was all alone now, she still didn't start crying or yelling. Strangely enough, her eyes were completely dry, as she whistled for Arion, watching as the trail of dust clouds he left behind started towards her from the distance.

**Thank you for reading. Constructive Criticism is welcome. If there is something you think I should change, I will do my best to work on it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Aronimac is the author of this ****fan****fic. Aronimac is obviously not J.K. Rowling or Rick Riordan. Therefore, Aronimac owns nothing. Simple. **

A week, 159 monster attacks, and 9 pit stops later, Hazel arrived at Camp Halfblood. Nico had other things to do again- things that even Hazel didn't know about, and Piper was helping Jason out in New Rome, trying to keep the Roman and Greek relationship healthy, so she had gone alone. Arion sped away the moment she got off, leaving her to enter camp by herself. Hazel couldn't help but notice that there was at least half as many people as there had been the last time she had visited, about six months ago before the attacks started. She headed to the Big House and walked in on a fully blown council meeting. Annabeth was in the middle of speaking when she noticed Hazel, and gestured for her to join them at the Ping-Pong table. Hazel did so, surprised to see Nico among the people gathered around the table. She sat next to Nico, sending him a questioning glance.

"Long story," he whispered to her. Annabeth continued talking as Hazel settled down.

"As you know, Rachel disappeared a week ago and has not been seen since-". Hazel's chair squeaked loudly as she nearly fell out of it, but no one seemed to notice. "-And, based on our investigation of the cave, her disappearance is a result of an attack by the same people who attacked the Hermes cabin this Tuesday. The Hecate campers claimed that they knew who the attackers were." Everyone turned towards Lou Ellen.

"Yeah, we have a pretty good idea of where the attacks were coming from. I can't, uh, exactly tell you, um, who it was, you know, attacking us. I don't think mom would be, ah, too happy about it if I did tell you. But I can give you a lead: London, King's Cross Station. That's all the information I can provide you with. Sorry." All the counselors sitting around the table broke out into argument. The room suddenly became as chaotic as a traffic jam in downtown Manhattan.

"So who's going on a quest this time, then?" Leo asked, after they all had calmed down.

No one said anything for a while. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Nico volunteered.

"I'll go. I'm pretty experienced and I think I get what Lou Ellen is talking about. Something my dad said when I last talked to him, a couple days ago, about someone who escaped death- I think I get what the significance of King's Cross Station is."

"I'm going with Nico." The words just spilled from Hazel's lips without her willing them to, but there was no taking them back now.

"You need three people for a quest. Do you want me to come with-"Percy was cut off by Leo.

"You've already gone on enough quests for, like, fifty lifetimes. And plus, if anyone should be going on this quest, it should be Lou Ellen or one of the other Hecate campers, since they have all the inside information here." Lou Ellen cursed under her breath at this, but when she realized that everyone was staring at her, she sat up straight and tried to look as if nothing really big had happened.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, I'll come. I- I think I have an idea about how we can get there."

Annabeth nodded. "So it's settled. Nico, Hazel, and Lou Ellen can leave tomorrow. As for the rest of us, here are my plans on increasing security near our borders, since the attackers have somehow gotten past Thalia's tree."


End file.
